[e-drug] Can we document experiences with PEPFAR please? (3)

E-DRUG: Can we document experiences with PEPFAR please? (3)
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Dear Friends:

Let me backslide, not to document experiences with PEPFAR, but to reissue
the PEPFAR's use of quality of drugs as a way to protect Big Pharma
interests and to back their campaign against generics.

Some previous messages highlighted sustainability as a major concern. As far as we know and until we have other therapeutic approach, HIV-AIDS has no cure, and treatment is as long as live, for anyone that the State (or
himself) begun to treat. And there is no commitment for this long term. But there is a strong pressure to link patients and States with patented-brand drugs.

After the "voluntary" retirement of Vioxx and the avalanche of publicity of
unfair advertising practices of Big Pharma in the U.S., there is no argument to defend the concept of stringent authority, but pro-pharma authority. If in the past we were proclivity to consider FDA as the most rigorous and independent institution to protect citizens, it is not true anymore. And there are a lot of evidence and criticism about the close relations between FDA and pharmaceutical industry. In this context, the argument of stringent authority is no longer acceptable.

But this issue is more uncomfortable because the implicit criticism against
health authorities in developing countries. Of course there are problems.
Lack of human, financial and technical resources, networking etc. It is not the only one deficiency of poor countries. And we must live with them,
trying to change it. But PEPFAR has no demonstrate its commitment with the
future of these topics in poor countries. No resources to overcome quality
control of drugs are considered in PEPFAR. Just the commitment to back
brand drugs.

It sounds much more like drug donation, with all the problems of drug
donations.

Francisco Rossi
francisco_rossi@hotmail.com

E-DRUG: Essential drugs without essential staff?
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To what extent will there be an insistence on quality assured
staff to distribute the medicine?

Will some of the funding go towards facilitating the return of the
health care staff who have been lured away from our shores? All
the drugs in the world will be worthless if we do not have health
professionals to diagnose, prescribe, dispense, educate, counsel,
monitor and encourage adherence.

Cheers

Billy

Billy Futter
Associate Professor
Faculty of Pharmacy
Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
email B.Futter@ru.ac.za
phone 046 603 8494
fax 046 636 1205

E-DRUG: Essential drugs without essential staff? (2)
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I can't but agree with Dr Futter. It is important if
not more, not only to see to the return of many of our
colleagues who have crossed to the other side of
Africa, but to make Africa a comfortable place for even
those who are yet to "run". This will discourage brain
drain and the presently so called essential drugs will
be essential.

Martins Emeje
Pharmacist/Research Fellow
NIPRD
Abuja
Nigeria.
martinsemeje@yahoo.com

E-DRUG: Essential drugs without essential staff? (3)
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Dear E-drug Users,

There is room for us to favourably act from where we are.

What appears to be key perhaps is to relevantly train more people in order that their instruction matches with their job specifications. Re-training whenever required and continuing training coupled with efficient monitoring should contribute a significant portion to the solution of the problem of lack of competent human resource capacity.

There are two queries however. First how can a manager of an institution decide to use up all the chances for continuing training or re-training at the expense of staff at operational levelSecond in Uganda, sometimes, six out of seven doctors in a facility can decide to go for leave, for example.

The matter at stake for now, therefore, is to try as much as possible to relevantly instruct people.

regards

George Kibumba, MPS (Uganda)
Msc. Student (Sept 2004-Sept 2005),
Pharmaceutical Services and Medicines Control,
University of Bradford,
Wardley House, Flat A3, Room 1,
Bradford, BD5 0AE, United Kingdom.
Personal e-mail: kibumba@yahoo.com
Student e-mail: G.Kibumba@bradford.ac.uk